The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbines and more particularly to optical flame holding and flashback detection.
In a gas turbine, fuel is burned with compressed air, produced by a compressor, in one or more combustors having one or more fuel nozzles configured to provide a premixing of fuel and air in a premixing zone located upstream of a burning zone (main combustion zone). Damage can quickly occur to the combustor when flame holding or flashback occurs in its fuel/air premixing passages. During desirable operation of the combustor, the premixed fuel and air combust downstream of the fuel/air premixing passages in the combustion zone. During flame holding or flashback, the fuel and air mixture in the premixing passages combusts. The flashback condition generally occurs when a flame travels upstream from the main burning zone into the premixing zone, which is not intended to sustain combustion reactions. As a consequence, serious damage may occur to the combustion system, potentially resulting in a catastrophic malfunction of the system and a concomitant substantial financial loss.
The use of ion-sensing detectors and other devices, such as thermocouples and fiber optics, to detect flashback is well known. However, these detectors simply detect the presence of a flame and do not discriminate the type of flame within the combustion system.
It is therefore desirable to provide a combustor with a flame detection system configured to discriminate flame types and arrest the flame holding or flashback event.